Shoes for Souls – Students Arrange Campus-wide Shoe Drive

Five students have set out on a mission to send aid to Third World countries.

As part of their Third-World Politics course, Kaitlyn Bruinius ’11 of Tinley Park, Illinois; Rachel VandeKamp ’11 of Sioux Fall, South Dakota; Josh Pollema ’13 of Rock Valley, Iowa; Frank Hrdy ’13 of Lafayette, Indiana; and Alex Arkema ’13 of Pella, Iowa, have arranged a campus-wide shoe drive to collect new or gently worn shoes from the Trinity community to send to those in need.

“We chose to do this project because there are a lot of people in other countries who don’t have shoes, and a lot of students at Trinity who have too many,” said VandeKamp.

For the project, the students are working with the organization Soles4Souls, a charitable organization that collects shoes from individuals as well as shoe companies and retailers across the nation to be distributed to people in need in over 125 countries.

“I am hoping that students take this opportunity to help other people in need and offer their support through a donation of shoes or money,” said VandeKamp.

Donation boxes for the shoes have been placed throughout campus. The group will also be accepting monetary donations which will help defray shipping and program costs. Monetary donations can be placed in an envelope and delivered to the on-campus mailbox of either Rachel VandeKamp or Kaitlyn Bruinius.